Ken Donovan will speak at the next meeting of the Old Sydney Society on 23 March 2017, 7:30 pm at the Lyceum, Sydney.

The title of the talk is "Preserving a Working-Class Irish House in Ingonish: A Social and Architectural History, 1822-2017"

This paper has two main objectives:

1) to focus on the six generations of one family that lived in the house from 1822 to 1990 and to place the family and the home within the historical background of Ingonish and northern Cape Breton.

2) The second objective is to describe the architecture and material culture of the house.

By 1990 the building was in a dilapidated state but it was restored over the next 27 years. The house can interpreted as a model for green repurposing, for sustainable development in a rural community. Since many people are aware of the house, it has become a modest symbol for public education North of Smokey.